Ever have the little voice in your head say things like, “Why don’t you stop by the store and pick up a 3 Musketeers?” Or “Oh, you know what sounds good right now? Potato chips.” How about, “The holidays are a free pass to eat what I want as long as I work out.” Only after the holidays you hear, “Well, you didn’t gain any weight… might as well have some cookies.” “You might as well have a burger and fries since you’ve been eating like crap anyway.” “You’ve already gained weight, today eat what you want. We will start new tomorrow.” Only tomorrow you hear “a few bites won’t hurt. At least it’s not what you ate yesterday. You are getting better.”
Have you been there? Have you then put on your jeans to feel how tight they are? Does that little voice in your head then say, “What is wrong with you? Do you have a food addiction? You need to throw all the muffins in the garbage and dump something nasty on top so there is no way your getting them back out.”
I am telling you all right now…YOU ARE NORMAL. You have a human brain that likes food. There is nothing wrong with you. There have been studies upon studies that show that flour and sugar are in fact more addictive than heroin. Our brain is literally wired to want the hit of dopamine flour and sugar give us. That doesn’t mean you have to go completely off sugar and flour (unless you genuinely have a diagnosed food addiction…this article is not geared toward people with a diagnosed eating disorder). However, what we do need to do is talk about the way we talk to ourselves about food.
Ever had the sneaky thoughts, the ones that seem like they are helpful? How about that day when you are eating healthy and staying on course only to have that thought, “I’ve been so good, it won’t hurt to have a little …” Another one, “I’ve had a bad day, I deserve a treat.” That voice seems so real, almost like it’s taking care of you. Like it’s doing you a favor. That is until you start to feel bad because you went back on your commitment to yourself.
Maybe it’s not thoughts. Maybe it’s when put on those pants and they are way too tight. Or you step on the scale and realize the number it went up or just hadn’t changed for a while. You really want to change the number on that scale. You really want to look good in that dress. You really want to be healthy. You really want to trim down for…you can insert your own reason. And now, now you feel defeated, disappointed, shameful, and mad at yourself because you can’t even keep the promise you made to yourself. In short, you feel helpless.
Maybe you know all the things you need to do to be healthy. You are researched diets and food, but for some reason you just can’t seem to sustain them. You try one for a while, lose the weight but get off and gain it back. Or you have gone on and off all kinds of diets but none of them are lasting. It feels like you go up and down. Or you have always had weight issues and think they will never go away. So frustrating, right?!.
It goes without saying that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. It’s the thoughts that feel so real, so isolating. There is a however a way to get past this...forever. It is not easy, and it is work. But it is SO worth it.
…because You are worth it. I believe in you. If you’d like to know more about how to get past these obstacles, to leave behind all the mind drama and lose the weight forever, contact me today and let’s talk.
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